Tuesday Kickoff: German squad given heroes welcome; Ribery returns to training; and more

The World Cup champions arrived home this morning to a heroes welcome in Berlin.

Hundreds of thousands of Germans lined the streets to witness the squad hoisting the World Cup trophy aloft, as Germany celebrates their fourth World Cup title. After landing at Berlin’s Tegel airport, the squad and support staff boarded a double-decker bus to ride through the streets of Berlin towards the Brandenberg Gate.

Speaking on the stage in front of the Brandenberg Gate, coach Joachim Löw thanked the fans and said that this title was for everyone in Germany.

“It was of course a long and insanely hard road,” Löw said, via the official German FA website. “But I had the feeling that we absolutely wanted to win this thing. We are all world champions,”

A number of the players were busy interacting with fans on social media, taking photos from the top of their bus at the crowds below. The goal scorer Mario Götze tweeted, “Wow, what a welcome in Germany. Thank you,” and defender Jerome Boateng and forward Lukas Podolski were busy tweeting selfies of themselves with the World Cup trophy.

Here are some more stories to start your day:

RIBERY BACK IN BAYERN TRAINING

Bayern Munich fans had a second reason to be excited on Tuesday.

In addition to the return of the German National Team, Franck Ribery returned to training with Bayern for the first time since being ruled out of the World Cup with a back injury. Ribery did some individual fitness drills off to the side with team fitness trainer Holger Broich as he works to regain his fitness ahead of the long season ahead.

German publication BILD speculates that Ribery could feature in Bayern’s first preseason match this Friday, against local side Red Baroons Dietmannsried in the “Dream Game 2014.”

VIDAL HAPPY AT JUVENTUS

Manchester United’s attempts to sign Arturo Vidal from Juventus have hit another stumbling block from the player himself.

In an interview with Chilean TV, the center midfielder said that he was happy with the Italian club and is currently only worrying about the health of his knee, which kept him from being 100 percent at the World Cup and towards the tail end of the Serie A season.

“I’m not thinking of where I’m going to go, I want to take advantage of my holidays with the people I love,” Vidal said on Chilean television. “Right now, I’m thinking of other things. Afterwards, when I arrive in Italy, I’ll see. I’m already at a great team, Juventus, so I will be just as calm if the Manchester United option falls through.”

According to reports in Italy, Man United would need to bid a minimum of €45 million for Juventus to consider selling their star talent, who at his best is one of the top midfielders in the world.

QUICK KICKS

Due to Luis Suarez’s FIFA ban, Barcelona have canceled their signing presentation for the Uruguayan. (REPORT)

Toni Kroos is expected to be given a salary worth €12 million per season with Real Madrid. (REPORT)

Arsenal are reportedly in pole position to sign German international and Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira after contract talks broke down. (REPORT)

Liverpool are set to announce the £25 million signing of Benfica midfielder Lazar Markovic. (REPORT)

Newcastle have quickly found a replacement for the outgoing Mathieu Debuchy, signing Netherlands right back Daryl Janmaat from Feyenoord for £5 million. (REPORT)

Fiorentina midfielder Borja Valero has signed a five-year contract extension with the club. (REPORT)

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What do you think of these reports? Impressed with the support from the German fans? Do you see Ribery returning to full fitness in time for Bayern’s match against the MLS All-Stars? Do you see Man United signing Vidal?

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16 comments

Raymon

With a packed midfield, what would Khedira bring to Arsenal? Is he going to compete for Arteta’s and Flamini’s spots? A successor? Seems like they would be better off reinforcing the back line, particularly with Sagna’s departure.

I would argue that Arteta and Flamini are not at the same level as Khedira, so the move would be a definite upgrade for Arsenal. If they would like to compete for the title, they will need to make signings like this.

The latest rumors are that the deal to Arsenal is a bit unlikely due to Khedira’s wage demands, he wants to be the highest paid player at the club. Supposedly he wants around 150k pounds a week, currently Sanchez and Ozil are highest paid at about 130k pounds.

Some amazing facts concerning club team Bayern Munich at the world cup.

1. Players from Bayern scored 18 goals. Second place Barcelona scored 10, Man U. and Chelsea scored 8 each.
2. Bayern had 11 players at the world cup. 10 of the 11 were not only starters but played most of the total minutes for their countries’ teams. The only one who didn’t was Julian Green. (If Franck Ribery wasn’t injured the totals would have been even higher.)

Green still has some work to do to break into Bayern’s starting rotation.

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